Alone, as usual, that was how she spent most of her time especially now that everything had gone sour. She had finally found the one that she could share everything with. The one she wanted to give everything to. The one she thought about constantly no matter what; the one that anything would remind her of only because he never left her mind. Sadly, he still occupied her mind most of the time. He was her dream come true. Emma had devoted those two years to him and his lifestyle, only to be left behind in the blink of an eye. He left her standing there in the airport. She had saved for months to get a plane ticket to come visit him on his birthday. Not an easy feat for her, considering she was a college student with tuition, food, and rent to pay, but she did it! She called him moments before the plane was taking off.
"I'm coming!" she giggled into the receiver.
"What?!" he choked. Excitement, surprise, she thought. Shock, worry, miserable, he felt.
"I'm coming to see you! For your birthday, silly!" she smiled brightly. She had just known that he would be excited to know she was coming.
"NO! I mean, you don't have to do that… um… save your money. You need it, Emma," he spoke quickly.
"Why?" she asked confused as to why he wouldn't want to see her, his girlfriend.
"Um… we are still working like crazy on the album and… um… I want be able to see you hardly, yeah," he came up with on the spot.
"But, I've already paid for the ticket. I'm sitting on the plane. Speaking of which, I have to go. The plane is taking off. Bye," she hung up before giving him a chance to lie anymore. She wasn't stupid. People liked to think that she was naïve and didn't understand that he was sending her mixed signals for a reason. She knew she would being leaving LA on a much sadder note. She would be leaving her heart behind with the man she believed so much in. He met her at the terminal, another girl draped over his arm. Emma simply smiled at him and headed to the counter to change her return date on her flight. She needed to turn directly around and go home. This was the biggest mistake of her life. She thought about it before she made her way to the front of the line. Quickly, she grabbed her bag and brushed past him and his new girl. Emma hailed a cab. She had never done LA the tourist way. She had three days to spend here. The cab took her to the closest hotel. She spent the next three days doing things that he had never dared to take her to, like the Hollywood sign and the Staples center. She had always wanted to see it. Not the inside. She just wanted to stand on the steps outside. She ate at fancy restaurants. She ate at McDonalds when she began to run low on money. Finally her three day trip was over. She grabbed her duffle bag she had packed for the weekend and headed out of her hotel room. There he stood.
"Nate, what do you want? I have a plane to catch," she pushed around him.
"I'm sorry," he spoke quietly as he walked close on her heals.
"Not good enough," she said simply as she called a taxi cab. He watched her cab pull from the curb and head towards her disappearance from his life forever. He felt a pain in his chest, much like the one he felt the first time he kissed his current girlfriend, like he was losing something very valuable to him, because she was very valuable to him. Without thinking, he hailed a cab. He was at the airport in twenty minutes. He checked the departure board only to see her flight was taking off in the next few minutes. He wouldn't make it in time. He did the first thing that came to mind, bought a ticket on the next flight for Tuscaloosa, Alabama. As he sat in his first class seat, he called to inform his parents about his change in heart. They had been extremely disappointed when he had brought Abby home to them. Emma held an extremely special spot in their hearts. Mrs. Jonas even secretly hoped that she would become her daughter-in-law one day. Mr. Jonas told him to be safe and that he was proud of him for getting himself straight. Nate hung up with his parents just to call Abby and inform her of his decision to go back to the one that he truly loved, whether she took him back or not. Abby knew from the minute that she began her pursuit of him that he would never truly be devoted to her. His heart was elsewhere. She sighed. They had always called her bad names, she knew that those people were right. She was a home wrecker, so instead of pitching a fit about him returning to his love, she let him go. It was the right thing to do. He texted Emma as his plane began rolling towards to run way.
'I'm coming' was all it said. She would know. She had to. Nate sat very impatiently in his seat. His knee kept beat with the songs that were playing. Finally, the pilot announced that they would be landing in ten minutes. He turned his iPod off, stuffed it in his pocket and began to mentally prepare himself. Finally, he felt the plane touch ground. This was it. He was either going to sink or swim. He unbuckled his seat and was the first standing ready to exit the plane. Nate nearly ran through the terminal. When he would fly in to see her, they would always meet in the back corner of the Starbucks. He raced to the booth. Turning the corner to look into the booth, his heart dropped. She wasn't there. She didn't believe any more. He jumped at the sound of voice behind him.
"Here. Explain." Emma shoved a coffee in his hands and seated herself on one side of the booth. Nate followed suit. He hadn't planned anything. He didn't know what he wanted to say or do.